On an afternoon so hot that even dogs refused to venture out for a stroll, the little village of Majia Creek suddenly came alive.
Since the incident had taken place in Tong County and involved a case in Lu County that was about to receive a verdict, both counties' criminal investigation teams sent people over. In the end, the municipal criminal investigation team took over the whole affair.
Even the scorching sun could not curb the villagers' curiosity. They crowded around Ma Fuqing's courtyard so tightly that the police had to set up a cordon twenty meters away.
The plump Deputy Captain Gao arrived from Lu County and started shouting the moment he came in. "Impossible! Impossible! What does someone dying here have to do with us?"
The sight of Qingmu's bird's-nest hair infuriated him. Pointing a pudgy finger at him, he said, "Hey! Why do you turn up everywhere?"
He complained loudly to the police filling the courtyard. "Look, this fellow here is a meddling civilian. He came over to our place and said a suspect whose verdict was about to be handed down wasn't the murderer. Then he turned around and came here, another murder happened, and now he says it's connected to us? Connected, my ass! He looks more like the murderer to me!"
A local station officer who did not know the circumstances came over to question Qingmu. "Please show me your ID."
Standing nearby, Hu Xing said unhappily, "What do you mean by that?"
"Look, just look!" Deputy Captain Gao said. "He's got the municipal bureau's beauty protecting him, and you still want to investigate him? Tong County has plenty of kept pretty boys. Investigate anyone you like, but leave this gentleman alone!"
Understanding dawned on the officers, and the way they looked at Qingmu and Hu Xing changed.
Hu Xing was practically bursting with anger, but this was not the sort of thing she could lash out over. Rumors were dangerous: the more you argued, or even lost your temper over them, the faster they spread and the more believable they became.
Qingmu, however, kept both hands in his trouser pockets and leaned lazily against the trunk of the old locust tree, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He looked utterly unconcerned, as though none of this had anything to do with him.
"Shameless bastard!" Deputy Captain Gao cursed, then grew pleased with himself, feeling he had gotten even for Qingmu making a fool of him.
Shi Dazhuang and the forensic examiner, Chen Jianzhong, arrived. After briefly familiarizing themselves with the situation, they directed the relevant personnel to begin working in an orderly fashion.
Deputy Captain Gao saw Qingmu crook a finger at him from beneath the locust tree. He glanced around, found no one beside him, and asked, "You calling me?"
Qingmu nodded.
Deputy Captain Gao walked over. "What?"
Qingmu took out his cigarettes and offered him one.
Unsure what Qingmu was up to, Deputy Captain Gao accepted the cigarette suspiciously and lit it with Qingmu's lighter.
Shit, even his lighter's that fancy! No wonder he can get the police beauty looking like that, he grumbled inwardly, indignant.
He blew out a mouthful of smoke and only then realized it was a foreign cigarette. It tasted strange, not even as good as the Wu cigarettes he usually smoked. Its smoke was thick, so thick it seemed unwilling to disperse. A gust blew it into his eyes, stinging them so badly he nearly cried.
"Brother, what cigarettes are these?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Paramount."
"These cigarettes of yours really aren't much good." He tried another puff as he spoke. This time, there was even more smoke, thicker than before.
The smoke they exhaled spread out, slowly filling the entire courtyard and turning it into something like an immortal paradise.
"What do you usually smoke?" Qingmu asked.
"Wu cigarettes at work, usually Zhonghua after work. Sometimes cigars."
Unable to stand the taste of the Paramount any longer, he threw it at his feet and stamped on it twice, but it did not go out. He crouched, picked up the cigarette butt, and examined it, then pressed it against the ground for a long time. It kept burning.
"Fuck! I refuse to believe I can't put you out!" He stood up and stamped hard, but no matter how much he stamped, he could not extinguish it.
Perhaps because he was fat, those few movements had already left him drenched in sweat. He crouched to inspect it again, then began digging a hole in the ground.
He soon dug a small hole. He put the burning cigarette inside and buried it.
"Let's see you keep burning now!" He stood up with a smile and saw the fellow with the bird's-nest hair smiling back at him.
Suddenly, he could not remember who this fellow was.
A crow flew in from somewhere, cawed twice above his head, and landed in the top of the locust tree.
He saw the old locust tree before him suddenly turn into a cigarette tree. Cigarettes dangled upside down from its branches, covering it densely, like a Christmas tree a tobacco company had specially decorated outside its entrance.
Looking down again, he saw that the spot where he had buried the cigarette had become a patch of scorched earth. Grass resembling shredded tobacco sprouted from it, growing slowly but visibly. Some even bore tiny flowers.
He crouched and carefully pulled up some of the grass, then put it in his mouth to taste it. It did indeed taste like shredded tobacco.
The flavor was wonderful, with the freshness of spring grass, the toasted fragrance of tobacco, and the earthy tang of soil. In the aftertaste, there was even the aroma of stinky tofu.
He looked at the cigarettes covering the tree and thought, I'm rich!
Then he felt someone clap him hard on the shoulder.
"Old Gao, what are you doing?"
Deputy Captain Gao shuddered and sprang up as though he had been electrocuted.
The cigarette Divine Tree before him vanished, turning back into the old locust tree.
Shi Dazhuang stood beside him, watching him with puzzlement in his serious expression.
A ring of police officers surrounded him, all grinning at him.
He was just about to speak when he noticed a strange taste in his mouth. Only then did he realize he had a mouthful of weeds covered in dirt.
He hurriedly spat several times, clearing the grass from his mouth, then gave an embarrassed smile. "Nothing, nothing. I was just... investigating... yes, investigating..."
Although the municipal criminal investigation team ranked one level above the county team, it had no direct authority over it, so Shi Dazhuang could hardly say anything.
"Old Gao, we may need to revisit that case your team has already reached a conclusion on," Shi Dazhuang said.
"Unless we find the head and the tools used in the crime, there's no overturning the case," Deputy Captain Gao said.
Shi Dazhuang nodded and turned to Hu Xing.
Hu Xing had been secretly enjoying Deputy Captain Gao's embarrassing performance. Seeing Shi Dazhuang looking at her, she pointed at Qingmu. "Ask him."
Qingmu stretched lazily and pointed to the hole Deputy Captain Gao had just dug. "Right there!"
Under Shi Dazhuang's direction, auxiliary officers brought in from the nearest police station took up shovels and pickaxes. Within a few strokes, they unearthed a black plastic bag and a rusty saw.
The instant the plastic bag was opened, a rotten stench burst out. Everyone except the forensic examiner, Chen Jianzhong, covered their mouths and noses.
"Hey, Old Gao, your investigative skills are improving! When did you develop such a good nose?" an officer who knew him teased.
Deputy Captain Gao gave a couple of dry coughs of laughter, walked closer for a look in disbelief, then pinched his nose and walked away. He remembered that he had just eaten grass growing in the soil above this rotting human head. Even now, an earthy taste lingered in his mouth.
His stomach churned uncontrollably, and he retched and threw up.